There once was a ship that put to sea

The name of that ship was the Billy o' Tea

The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down

Blow, me bully boys, blow (huh)

She had not been two weeks from shore

When down on her, a right whale bore

The captain called all hands and swore

He'd take that whale in tow (huh)

Before the boat had hit the water

The whale's tail came up and caught her

All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her

When she dived down below (huh)

No line was cut, no whale was freed

The captain's mind was not on greed

But he belonged to the Wellerman's creed

She took that ship in tow (huh)

For 40 days or even more (ooh)

The line went slack then tight once more

All boats were lost, there were only four

And still that whale did go

As far as I've heard, the fight's still on

The line's not cut, and the whale's not gone

The Wellerman makes his regular call

To encourage the captain, crew and all